With all the various local trade shows ramping up and SIA being just around the corner I figured we should get a thread going for next years product releases. Here are a few that I have stumbled upon so far.
Next years Arbor Abacus
Next year Smokin gets in the game with a split offering
Next years G3 Black Sheep Carbon courtesy of Spliboard.com’s instagram account
OK, the Abacus is a piece of beauty. And the Black Sheep is super sleek with the Phantoms, probably an amazing light and strong charger.
Nevertheless, I was most excited to understand that Smokin is doing a split. My older daughter and I ride solid Smokins as our everyday resort / slackcountry boards (Vixen and Superpark, respectively) and we love them. The Smokins are bulletproof, have great edge (mellow magne), fun profiles (we ride CTX), tip + tail protection, are hand-made here in the old USA. 3 year warranty and “bummer” replacement program at wholesale cost if you manage to break somehow. So I was very happy to learn that Smokin is doing a split.
Looking at the Smokin specs, however, has me confused:
shape looks good but the specs say no taper? This is not a twin shape anyway, add some taper! Or have a real twin shape, whaever (I could ride each, I have a NS twin split and a Furberg tapered split)
make it flat between the binders! which Smokin has with the ATX profile. That would be good for skinning and still fun yet stable
flex = 6 seems too soft the be a strong and versatile backcountry board. I know Smokins are no noodles but I think 7 or 8 is needed here, consider all gear weight, etc.
related to flex and shape: I hope the sidecut radius is in the 9-10m range, at least
Hope Smokin is listening and the specs aren’t set in stone yet, or at least are subject to change for later models.
Donek named their split the Nomad last year. Now Nitro has a Nomad split. If Donek were Specialized, Nitro would be sued. But somehow I doubt Donek will do that. Instead, big fat Nitro will just suck, creeping on the small indy company, and losing favor with those who might otherwise try to like their style. Lame.
Spark will not start a new run untill autumn, and I’d be very surprised if they update Tesla as it’s pretty much perfect now. But rumour has it Karakoram has a new binding ready.
Here we go they are done. The Bossu. Wood veneer over e-glass high backs stiff with flex where its needed. Leather straps sewed on an old singer sewing machine (thats why i learned to sew at primary school). Urethane moulded in place contact points where the board and binding touch. Almost all of it (but the ratchets) built in-house in garage.
These have me excited about gear for the first time in a while for a few reasons: Built by one of our forum members; awesome tech, they look great; Isn’t it all of our dreams to build kick ass gear in our garage? Come on now! Also, the price point isn’t absurd, even coming across the pond.
I also see that black sheep has the new phantom heel riser piece on it!
I don’t believe that is the heel riser with a lockdown. John has been super secretive on those, but he is working on em. Maybe by Silverton splitfest he’ll have a good run of them to show off.